EAST HAMPTON >> Town officials have issued a list of “rules of decorum” for tonight’s informational meeting on proposed infrastructure expansion. The informational meeting will take place in the high school auditorium beginning at 6:30 p.m. It will include presentations by eight town officials explaining the proposed construction of a new police/fire facility and a new town hall as well as the impacts on Lake Pocotopaug, the water system and the town’s finances.
A special subcommittee appointed by the town council reviewed the needs of the police and fire departments and the school department before releasing a comprehensive assessment of the projected building needs in November. The assessment calls for construction of a new police station and an adjacent fire house on a piece of property at 195 West High St. That would be followed by construction a new town hall on land along a portion of Main Street in the Village Center. The combined estimated cost for construction of the three facilities is between $18 million to $20 million.
The town does not yet own any of the proposed building sites. However, the council last month split along party lines when it asked the town manager to begin negotiations for the purchase of a piece of property on Main Street. In addition to discussing the needs of the various emergency departments (police and fire) by their respective chiefs, the program will also include a presentation by the superintendent of schools. The school department helped bring the focus on infrastructure improvement projects in general when it successfully lobbied for approval of a $51 million renovation and expansion of the high school. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Cohanzie School outcomes to cost more than earlier estimate
Waterford - Costs of remediation and demolition of the 90-year-old Cohanzie School on Dayton Road could cost up to roughly $700,000 more than originally anticipated, though state grants are still expected to cover most of the expenses, according to Director of Planning and Development Dennis Goderre. Cohanzie School was left vacant in 2008 as part of a building project approved at a 2002 referendum that consolidated the town's five elementary schools into three due to declining enrollment and increased operational costs.
"Although we projected the remediation and demolition costs in May of 2014 to be $850,000, bids came in much higher," Goderre wrote in a Jan. 5 letter to First Selectman Daniel Steward.
The letter outlined three bid options. Two options would allow for remediation and retention of the original 1923 portion of the school; one option is estimated to cost about $1.19 million and the other about $1.26 million. A third option, which would include demolition of the entire school structure, is pegged at $1.5 million. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
The Middletown common council delayed a vote on a tax incentive plan for a new apartment building
MIDDLETOWN — The common council has postponed action on an incentive plan that city officials want to offer a developer with plans to build a new downtown residential building beside the MiddleOak office tower. A Massachusetts developer, Hajjar Management Co., is proposing an upscale 89-unit apartment building at the corner of College and Broad streets adjacent to the MiddleOak office tower. Hajjar owns the property. The $20 million project would include 3,400 square feet of retail space on the first floor with studios, one bedroom and two bedroom apartments on the second, third and fourth floors.
Council members said they needed more time and more information about the deal, which calls for a seven-year tax freeze and a cap on building permits at $142,600. The council voted Monday night 9-2 to postpone a decision until the Feb. 2 council meeting.
Democratic Majority Leader Thomas Serra said he hopes the city can reopen negotiations to get a deal that is more beneficial to taxpayers. He said there are also remaining questions about the 1987 deal the city offered when Middlesex Mutual built the office tower at Broad and Court streets, and about the impact the new building might have on the school district.
"I support this in the context of what's happening," Serra said. "However it's about fairness to the citizens of Middletown. My intention [in postponing a vote] is to have input and to have answers to all the questions my colleagues asked." CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
White House says it'll veto any approval of Keystone pipeline
WASHINGTON >> The White House on Tuesday threatened to veto the first piece of legislation introduced in the Republican-controlled Senate, a bill approving the much-delayed Keystone XL oil pipeline, in what was expected to be the first of many confrontations over energy and environmental policy. Hours after supporters of the bipartisan bill, which is sponsored by all 54 Senate Republicans and six Democrats, announced its introduction, the White House said for the first time that President Barack Obama would veto it. “If this bill passes this Congress, the president wouldn’t sign” it, White House spokesman Josh Earnest said Tuesday, saying legislation shouldn’t undermine the review process underway at the State Department or circumvent a pending lawsuit in Nebraska over its route.
It’s “premature to evaluate the project before something as basic as the route of the pipeline has been determined,” he said. The two main sponsors, Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., said Tuesday morning they had enough votes to overcome a filibuster of the bill but not a presidential veto. The House is expected to vote and pass a bill approving the $5.4 billion project, which was first proposed in 2008, on Friday. “The Congress on a bipartisan basis is saying we are approving this project,” said Hoeven, the chief Republican sponsor. He said if the president chooses to veto the bill, he would work to attach it to a broader energy package or must-pass spending bills.
The head of the American Petroleum Institute, Jack Gerrard, said Tuesday after his annual speech on the state of U.S. energy that the president had failed to make a simple decision that would put people to work, but he predicted the pipeline would eventually be approved.
“It doesn’t bode well for relationships between the White House and Capitol Hill,” Gerrard said of the veto threat. The bill is identical to one that failed to pass the Senate by a single vote in November, when Democrats were in control and Sen. Mary Landrieu of Louisiana pushed for a vote to save her Senate seat. She lost to Republican Rep. Bill Cassidy, who sponsored the successful House bill approving the pipeline. CLICK TITLE TO CONTINUE
Thomaston picks contractor for Nystrom project
THOMASTON — The Board of Selectmen on Tuesday awarded the construction on the Nystrom's Pond Park project to Millennium Contracting out of Rocky Hill, with a bid of $741,510. "It sounds like they're eager to start," said Garrett Harlow, a landscape architect who has been working on the project. Millennium will build four tennis courts, reconstruct the parking area, build a large water quality basin, and add an Americans with Disabilities Act walkway from the parking lot to existing restrooms, tennis courts and beach area. The tennis courts will be constructed on a cable tension system which should prevent the courts from cracking and settling, even it the soil conditions are poor, Harlow said. The construction costs may not exceed $795,347, which is the amount of money raised through private fundraisers and various grants. If there is money left over at the end of the project, they bid alternates of $20,000 for landscaping and $24,000 for electrical site lighting.
The board is also hiring the Cheshire engineering firm Milone & MacBroom to oversee the construction on a weekly basis for $32,000, making the total expected costs for the project $773,510.
Millennium has worked on projects for the city of Torrington, University of Hartford and Falls Village, all of which have given the contractor great reviews, Harlow said. A subcontractor from Goshen, Greenstone Contracting, will do the site work, Harlow said. The town received 12 bids, according to First Selectman Edmond V. Mone. There were two other bids in the $700,000 range, Mone said, with the highest base bid at $875,270. The winning bid leaves just $21,837 for contingency. If the project runs into trouble, the town could remove the sidewalk and stairs to beach, saving $40,600. The town could also remove the sidewalk from the tennis court to the bathrooms, saving an additional $20,000, Harlow said. If, however, there is money left over, the board said the first priority would be to put in a conduit for lighting. The project should take about 120 days to complete and is scheduled to start in March or April, but Millennium is hoping to start in February, clearing and prepping the site, Harlow said. The project should be complete by the end of July, but could be finished a month earlier, depending on what work is done in February, he said.